The present invention is directed to a member for securing insulation panels to structural components. The element has a large area head with a hollow shaft extending axially from the head. The hollow shaft has a collapsible section which forms an abutment for a nail to be driven through the hollow shaft into the structural component.
A basically mushroom shaped attachment member is disclosed in EP-A-0 187 168 for securing insulation plates formed mainly of material of low compression strength to structural components. The attachment member is fixed to the structural component by a nail. The driving resistance of the nail can vary because of non-uniform strength of the structural component formed, for instance, of concrete, whereby the nail may be driven in for different depths, if the nails are driven by an explosive powder charge operated driving tool affording a predetermined amount of energy. To avoid that the different depths of penetration of the nail would cause destruction of the hollow shaft, one wall section is designed as a collapsible region. Based on the depth of the penetration of the nail, the collapsible region is deformed to a lesser or greater degree if there is excess energy, so that the overall length of the member is shortened. Accordingly, the head of the attachment member penetrates to some extent into the insulation panel, and damage to the insulation panel on its outer surface can occur in the region of the attachment member. Further, the movement of the head for different depths into the insulation panel results in an uneven outer surface of the panel which affords an unpleasant appearance.